MEP welcomes new EU report on Mental Health
September 6, 2006 12:15 PM
Liz Lynne, county Lib Dem MEP and Vice-President of the European Parliament's All Party Disability Intergroup, today welcomed a new EU report highlighting the need for European Countries to commit to improving the mental health of the their citizens and welcoming the European Commission's commitment to promoting mental health.
Speaking from Strasbourg Liz commented:
"One quarter of the EU's population will suffer mental health problems in their lifetime and whilst standards of mental healthcare are improving across Europe there remains a great deal of old fashioned thinking about treatment, care and rehabilitation.
"The responsibility for care lies with individual Member States but the EU can introduce measures to help practitioners share experience and encourage cooperation.
"This report rightly identifies that the stigma still associated with mental health issues is the major challenge facing any plans to improve the situation. The problems of rejection and ignorance mean that many suffer in silence.
"I hope that the UK government takes note of what is being said and looks at how it can improve our mental healthcare system through more investment, increased awareness and better treatment."
Editor's Notes
- Mental disorders are the fastest growing health burden in the EU, with depression the leading disorder.
- 450 million people in our world live with a neurological or mental disorder.
- 1 in 4 of us will be affected by a mental health disorder in our lifetime.
- 121 million of us have Depression - 3 in every 100 of us every year.
- Neuropsychiatric disorders are responsible for one third of disabilities, 15% of in-patient costs, nearly a quarter of drugs costs, half the caseload of social workers; and, in the United Kingdom alone, over 90 million days lost at work each year.
- Drug addiction and crime, drunkenness, accidents, absenteeism, vandalism, disruptive pupils, rough sleepers, and many of society's "problems" in fact link to mental health problems.
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